Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive – CH100

Chapter 100

Shen Zheng and the others had expected to run into hunters from the Highland Shelter, but they had not expected to run into President Qin.

Shen Zheng gave President Qin a nod as a greeting.

President Qin then looked toward the chubby little boy curled up in Yi Qi’s arms.

The child was even plumper than before. Wrapped up in thick winter clothes, he really did look like a little meatball from a distance.

President Qin narrowed his eyes slightly and grinned. “Oh, so not only are you still alive, it looks like you’ve been living pretty well too.”

His eyes shifted, as though he had suddenly thought of something. “I heard there’s a pretty formidable farm on Qing Mountain in Wuqing City. Wu Qiang from the Watchers Community led more than seventy hunters there and died. Don’t tell me that farm belongs to you.”

The moment he said that, the hunters lounging around the pickup truck all straightened up. They exchanged glances, their eyes full of curiosity and greed.

Shen Zheng’s expression remained calm. He neither denied nor admitted it. Instead, he turned to Zhou Qing, who looked ready to leave. “Sister Qing, are we heading straight up the mountain now?”

Zhou Qing’s brisk steps halted, and displeasure rose in her heart.

She had originally thought this Shen fellow, with his fair, clean-cut looks and gentle way of speaking, was an honest man.

Usually he called her Miss Zhou, but now, in front of so many hunters, he had switched to Sister Qing. Was he trying to make Rose Garden and Full-Belly Farm share the risk together?

The two sides remained locked in silence when the long, resonant sound of a car horn drifted down from the mountain road ahead.

Several black cars came to a stop at the checkpoint. The hunters standing nearby with guns quickly stepped forward and pulled open the iron barrier.

A car door opened, and out stepped a middle-aged man so thin he looked like a skeleton, with hollow cheeks and graying hair.

The moment Zhou Qing and President Qin saw him, their attitudes both turned respectful. In unison, they said, “Uncle Qi.”

Uncle Qi covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed twice before looking at Shen Zheng’s group.

“This is our first meeting, so allow me to introduce myself,” Uncle Qi said mildly. “My surname is Qi. I used to be a government official in Yu City City. Now I serve the Thirteenth United Canning Factory of Yu City City, where I am mainly responsible for tallying and relocating all survivors in Yu City.”

He glanced reproachfully at President Qin and Zhou Qing. “At a time when humanity’s survival hangs in the balance, mutual slaughter benefits no one. Even the Watchers Community has already let go of old grudges. As leaders of two major bases, do you really have no sense of the bigger picture?”

Both Zhou Qing and President Qin lowered their heads slightly.

The forcefulness in Uncle Qi’s words made it clear that he really had once been a high-ranking official.

Uncle Qi waved his hand. “There’s still some distance from here to the summit. Take these cars and head up.”

Just as Shen Zheng and the other three were about to get in, Uncle Qi suddenly reached out and patted Guanguan on the head.

“How old are you?”

With so many fierce-looking strangers around, Guanguan was actually a little scared.

He pressed his chin against his brother’s shoulder, revealing only half of his round peach-like face, then held up four stubby little fingers. “Guanguan is four!”

The second year of the apocalypse was about to begin. That meant this child had gone through the apocalypse when he was only two or three years old. The fact that he had managed to hold on until now was truly impressive.

“Hmm? Very good. You’re a very brave little boy,” Uncle Qi said with a smile. Then he looked Wei Cheng over a few more times, his gaze lingering on the hand holding Guanguan. “And you, child?”

Wei Cheng said, “I’ll be ten after New Year.”

Uncle Qi was clearly surprised, as though he had not expected a ten-year-old to be this tall.

He patted Wei Cheng on the shoulder. “Get in the car. You all look very tired.”

The car drove onto the gray winding mountain road. On both sides stood thick steel stake fencing with gaps between the posts, dozens of meters high and stretching endlessly into the distance. It completely cut off the bottomless forest from the road.

Wei Cheng kept observing the surroundings.

When the car finally stopped, a six-story building with gray walls and tall tiled roofing stood ahead of them. Between the two gate pillars hung a white sign with black lettering that read things like National Special Handling… Confidential Destruction Center. The place looked very much like a government building from before the apocalypse.

Was this the disease control center that was closed to the public?

It felt like it was, and yet not quite.

His understanding of this disease control center was vague to begin with. He had only heard about it from other people.

Zhou Qing pressed the white card against a blue-lit device on the wall, and the plain glass doors silently slid open.

The people from Rose Garden Base entered first.

Wei Cheng and the others followed suit and went in right behind them.

The moment they stepped inside, they realized from the slogans posted on the walls and the overall quiet, austere style that this was not merely like a government building.

It was a government building.

Wei Cheng looked at the white card in his palm.

He was certain now that this was not the mysterious “disease control center.”

Several men in black suits came forward to greet them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please come with us,” one of the men said, then pointed at the cards in their hands. “As long as you insert this card, your room will have electricity, hot water, and the food in the refrigerator has also been prepared for you by Mr. Qi. A little later, Director Zhong will come here from the canning factory. At that time, we will trouble you all to come out and speak with him.”

Those invited to attend the Wengming Mountain meeting were all people of some status and capability in their own bases. Their standard of living back home could already be considered fairly good. So when they heard there would be electricity, water, and food, no one showed much excitement.

But Wei Cheng was quietly studying the building.

Whether it was electricity or running water, both required a large supply of fuel and power sources. This building definitely concealed major resources.

Given Uncle Qi’s line of work…

It seemed the canning factory wanted to gather all of Yu City’s survivors in one place to fight the mutated zombies together.

But for the people of the farm, was that a good thing or a bad thing?

Thinking as he walked, he followed the people ahead until they reached a corner on the fourth floor, where the man in the suit leading them came to a stop.

“This is the place.”

Then he added respectfully, “If you need anything, you may come find us in the first room on the second floor.”

Shen Zheng thanked him politely, and the family of four carried their large and small bags inside.

It was an utterly ordinary employee dormitory.

At a glance, there were four military camp beds arranged as bunks. Beside them stood a kitchen area and refrigerator, while in the corner were the bathroom and toilet.

Seeing such simple surroundings, Wei Cheng’s heart relaxed slightly.

Just then, his vision blurred, and a chubby little figure shot into the room like a cannonball.

“Brother, Guanguan needs to pee! I need to pee!” Guanguan cried, clutching his stomach with both little hands and stomping his fat little feet.

Wei Cheng immediately threw down the luggage, scooped Guanguan up, and ran for the bathroom.

After flushing the toilet, he said with concern, “If you needed to go, why didn’t you tell your brother? Does your tummy hurt from holding it in?”

Guanguan waved his little hands. “Doesn’t hurt!”

“There were people looking at Guanguan like this.” The child frowned with his tiny brows, then relaxed and used his pudgy little hands to pull the corners of his mouth downward. “And some people were looking at Brother like this too! If Guanguan peed, they’d shoot Guanguan with their guns, and then Guanguan would pee on his shoes!”

Guanguan stamped his little Ultraman shoes and worriedly said, “And these are Baby’s favorite shoes!”

So this child had actually been thinking about all that? He really had grown up. But from the foot of the mountain to the top had taken more than ten minutes by car. Who knew how long he had been holding it before that.

Wei Cheng felt both heartache and guilt. “They won’t. Brother will protect Guanguan. This time it was Brother’s fault for not noticing you needed the bathroom in time. In the future, if Brother doesn’t notice, you have to tell me right away when you need to go, or your tummy will really start to hurt.”

Then he added, “And then you won’t be able to eat strawberries or lollipops either.”

Guanguan hugged his round little belly and panicked. “Brother, don’t let it hurt!”

Wei Cheng rubbed the child’s stomach. “Alright, Guanguan’s tummy won’t hurt. Guanguan says that next time he wants to use the bathroom, he’ll tell Brother.”

Guanguan pointed a chubby little hand at his own stomach and scolded it in a fierce baby voice, “Did you hear that? Be good. You’re not allowed to hurt!”

Wei Cheng smiled. “Mm. It understands.”

Having successfully relieved himself, the chubby little boy looked around the room with his dark eyes.

He pointed at the bed. “Brother, Grandpa’s home had this too!”

That “home” probably meant the orphanage.

Wei Cheng stroked the child’s cheek. “Yeah, it looks a lot like the beds we used to have.”

Seeing the two brothers come out of the bathroom, Shen Zheng walked over with a smile. “All done peeing? Does your tummy hurt?”

Guanguan proudly puffed out his little chest. “Doesn’t hurt! Guanguan even yelled at it!”

“So impressive.” Shen Zheng had already heard the brothers’ conversation earlier.

Guanguan pointed at Uncle Shen’s feet in curiosity. “Wow, does Guanguan have white shoes too?”

Shen Zheng had changed into the disposable slippers provided here.

Yi Qi picked up two pairs of slippers. “You do, but they’re really big.”

Guanguan loved wearing oversized shoes and going pat-pat in them! It felt like he was stepping on a little boat to cross a river!

He hugged the two pairs of slippers and refused to let go, his eyes shining with expectation. “Brother, do you want them?”

Wei Cheng smiled. “I don’t. I’ll wear the shoes from my backpack.”

Guanguan was so delighted his little mouth could hardly close. “Th-then Guanguan has two boats. No, I mean two pairs of shoes!”

Yi Qi was completely charmed and flicked one foot. “Then what are we waiting for? This pair’s yours too!”

“Yay, yay!”

Guanguan excitedly ran forward, then suddenly ran back to his brother’s side. As if afraid of hurting Uncle Yi’s feelings, he lowered his voice very, very softly, but everyone in the room could still hear him: “One uncle is really amazing. He turned the white shoes into the smell of pickled cabbage!”

Wei Cheng could not help laughing out loud.

Shen Zheng burst into laughter and slapped Yi Qi on the shoulder. “Go wash your feet already!”

Yi Qi’s old face turned red. “Alright, alright, stop laughing. Let’s just pretend this never happened.”

Wei Cheng and Uncle Shen made the beds and unpacked their things. They could not keep Guanguan company for the time being.

So Guanguan wore the adults’ white slippers, one on each wrong foot, and ran all around the room with little pat-pat sounds. Even alone, he was having a wonderful time.

They were highly wary of this place, so they had already made up their minds that they absolutely would not use Guanguan’s safe house here.

The food in the refrigerator consisted only of canned meat sauce, sliced bread, noodles, bottled water, and a few small apples with blemishes on them.

They still had quite a bit of food in their own luggage, so for the time being they did not touch the food here.

As the sun gradually set, the only sound in the dark room was Guanguan’s sleeping breath.

When the door was knocked on softly, Wei Cheng and the other two sat up from their beds with practiced ease.

“Gentlemen, the factory director has arrived. Please come to the fourth floor for a talk.”

Shen Zheng’s eyes were clear and alert. “Alright, we’ll go at once.”

“Uncle Shen, stay here and look after Guanguan,” Wei Cheng said as he got out of bed. “There’s something I need to confirm.”

Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive